Pulverize the Sound is one of the most extreme and radical bands in New York. This collaborative trio – extraordinaire trumpeter Peter Evans, bassist Tim Dahl and drummer Milke Pride, all are experienced in punk, metal, avant-rock and free improvised formats and bands in the hybridized and promiscuous scene of New York’s fertile, experimental music. Evans played with Mary Halvorson, Weasel Walter, Mostly Others Do The Killing, and Barry Guy and Evan Parker. Dahl Played with Lydia Lunch and Ava Mendoza. Pride played with Anthony Braxton, Jon Irabagon and Joe Morris.
Black is the third album of Pulverize the Sound, and unlike the previous albums of the trio, the self-titled debut album and Sequel (Relative Pitch, 2015 and 2018), is fully improvised. Black continues the explorative journey of this trio into the most thorny, weird and obscure peripheral terrains of any definable genre, but in an organic manner and in the most arresting and engaging ways possible. True to its DIY philosophy, the mix was done by Dahl and Pride. Pride did also the mastering.
Pulverize the Sound’s extensive and constant rehearsals and performances already lead to uncompromising and highly intense and powerful dynamics. So, Black cements furthermore the trio’s tight and propulsive, high-octane dynamics with its almost telepathic interplay, and the free-improvised pieces sound like final and mature drafts of compositions. The usage of extended breathing techniques, amplified trumpets, effects pedals, unconventional and inventive tricks and Pulverize the Sound’s flirt with noise and distortion is already integral to the trio’s vocabulary and never surrenders to familiar conventions or narratives. Pulverize the Sound will always challenge the listener with its eccentric and provocative choices, when it plays with surprising, poetic restraint, exploring beautiful melodies, or when it blows out with reckless and explosive fury and inhuman speed, often in the same piece (check «STAG» and «Ex-All»).
Three is no end to the ecstatic and most fascinating sonic imagination and the delicate ballet of this hyperactive, three-headed sonic monster.
Eyal Hareuveni
Peter Evans (tp), Tim Dahl (el.b, microphone), Mike Pride (dr, glockenspiel, auxiliary perc)
